The invention relates generally to the area of low work function (LWF) materials. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of fabricating LWF components, such as electrodes.
Processing steps involved in the fabrication of a particular member of an electronic component may be detrimental to the fabrication efficiency and reliability of other members constituting the component. One situation in point relates to the fabrication of components that display a low work function. Development of cost effective methodologies that can be used to fabricate LWF components such as LWF electrodes reliably and which are compatible with an infrastructure as is conventionally used for the fabrication of LWF components is one of the challenges facing present day LWF component fabrication technology.
Methodologies that allow for the fabrication of robust and reliable LWF components, and at the same time, that are compatible with the existing fabrication methodologies employed to fabricate other parts of a component would therefore be highly desirable.
One of the current paradigms in ensuring the quality of fabrication devices containing LWF components consists in fabricating the LWF components separately from any other parts constituting the device, and integrating the LWF component into the device upon completion of all those steps involved in the fabrication of the other parts of the device that are detrimental to the LWF component.
Any fabrication methodology that aims to improve the health of fabricated LWF components while adversely impacting or limiting the efficiency of fabrication of the other parts of a device may not be economically viable.
A fabrication methodology that is compatible with the existing infrastructure as has been used conventionally to fabricate LWF components such as, thin film deposition systems such as sputtering systems, and ion implantation systems, and does not place adverse restrictions on the existing methodologies used in the fabrication of the other parts, such as requiring changes in such existing methodologies would therefore, be highly desirable.